Am I on the child-protective blacklist? How to find out

Heather Whitten, a photographer, was placed on the DCS Central Registry after taking a photo of her husband in the shower comforting their sick son.

Dorothy Edwards and David Wallace, USATODAY NETWORK

The Central Registry maintained by Arizona's Department of Child Safety is a confidential document that lists people with proven reports of child abuse or neglect. It names a lot of people: 81,000, according to DCS records.

Critics suspect the registry most likely lists people who have no idea they're on it. And a listing can complicate getting some jobs.

Only DCS can access the list, and it does so for limited purposes. Those include screening applicants for jobs that deal with kids in the child-welfare system, jobs such as caseworkers, social-service providers or foster-care homes.